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One of a number of samples I got of more affordable (i.e. not $600/cake) HLH sheng. The dry leaf on this one had a nice and pretty classically Yiwu-smelling profile. After a rinse, it was more savory, with some soft sweetness underneath.

The tea had a good balance of astringency and sweetness, with mostly softer vegetal flavors on the front of the sip, followed by a nice and sweet huigan which fills the mouth. The liquor was thick and comforting. This was an easy tea to drink, though interesting enough not to be boring. I noticed some good throat-feeling from this tea, especially in the mid steeps when it was really opened up and giving its all.

The combination of the thick texture and the vegetal notes I was getting occasionally reminded me of potato – like plain mashed potato, oddly enough. A good one to try, but not much of a standout. Texture was its strongest quality with pleasant flavor to go alongside it.

Received this tea in whichever w2t club package gave us three little oolong packets a little while ago. This one’s name definitely suited it. The dry leaf has a sweet, milky aroma which was somehow cool and airy to me. The wet leaf smelled like sweet/salty kettle corn with a bit of a milky underpinning.

The flavor starts off slightly vegetal and green, but still floral – I’m thinking floral stems – with a slight fruity finish, like peach rind. As the session progresses, the vegetal start builds sweetness until it evens out into just a sweet and creamy flavor with a strong, but not punchy, lingering floral finish. The tea had a strong and noticeable throat-tightening feeling. Interestingly, the floral finish got more intense and faster rising as I got closer to the end of the session. The last few steeps had a soft vegetal note, like cucumber, still in front of that floral finish.

I also tried the tea with slightly hotter water (205F vs 195F), and found it to be a good deal more vegetal, almost sharply so, especially in the early session. The finish was floral and creamy from the get-go. As the session progressed, the heavy vegetal note smoothed out, and the floral finish got deeper even than it had in the previous session – almost sticky as well. The session with hotter water just kept going and going as well.

I’m not sure which water temp I preferred it at. I really would’ve preferred to get a bigger bag of it so I could to some more experimentation. The little club packet was barely enough for two small sessions. Might consider picking up 50g of it in my next w2t order.

One of a few sheng samples I picked up from BTT a little while ago. I have heard that some of their stuff is really dank, so I was sort of prepared for that going in. The dry leaf definitely does smell a little bit humid, and also has a slightly sweet woody character. After a rinse, the aroma was much more musty/humid.

The flavor, unsurprisingly, started off pretty dank. It was only really up front about it for the first 2-3 steeps though. After that, it was a much more mellow woody, earthy flavor. It’s evident this tea wasn’t super-humidly stored, as it still has some youth to it. The steeped out leaves still show a bit of a green hue, and the tea can definitely get astringent (even a little sour) if oversteeped. The tea brews out for a decent while as well. Texture is pleasantly thick. I didn’t pick up much of any qi off of the tea.

Potentially a good daily drinker type of cake for somebody who prefers aged sheng. It’s not complex, but it’s pleasant and at $79 for a full-sized cake, is a pretty good value for decent (not amazing) 15 year old tea.

Another little packet I ordered from Hello Teatime last 11/11. I was hopeful when I smelled the dry leaf – it was sweet, like a lightly burnt sugar. After a rinse, the scent was more prominently roasty, with a bit of an underlying fruity sweetness – almost like red wine.

Unfortunately, once I got to tasting the tea, it only disappointed. A lot of the characteristics I sometimes get in Tie Guan Yin that makes me think it’s not one of my favorite styles of tea. The flavor started off nice and bready, but very light. Against my expectations, the flavor didn’t really start to pick up anymore after the first steep. I started to get some really unpleasant sourness on the finish, magnified as the tea cooled a bit. I get that more often in green TGY than roasted. Other than that, the flavor was pretty flat. There was sometimes a nice grassy sweet aftertaste, but it didn’t last long and was usually overshadowed by the sourness.

Today I drank a small sample I got from a teafriend, labeled “2008 Mengku Raw, Teabook.” I couldn’t find an 08 Mengku here or on Teabook’s website, so here the review shall go. Probably sold out or something. After a rinse, I took a big whiff and got punched right in the face with a big tobacco and slightly barnyard aroma. Also whiffs of fruit in the background – big, hefty nose on this one.

The flavor followed largely in kind. Sweet and heavy tobacco notes, with a light underlying smoke and a little bitterness. This one still feels like a pretty young tea, but I imagine it would have been quite rough the first couple years after pressing. The tea possessed a lightly sweet but rather flat huigan which did not last long on the palate. Towards the end of the session, I started to pick up a bit of fruitiness buried in the finish, but the tea gave up the ghost just after that started to show through. Potentially would be a better tea given another decade of solid aging, but as it is, not one that really aligns with my pu tastes. Leaf quality was better than tuocha and some super chopped cakes, but was still pretty cut up. Provided a mostly enjoyable session for my afternoon though.

I picked up 50g of this tea with my last big white2tea order. It’s a very nice hong. I find the flavor to be pretty deep, lower notes rather than high notes. Not particularly complex, but that’s not what I really look for in hongcha anyways. I get some earthiness, malt, and maybe a very bit of dark chocolate. The chocolate note, which is not always present for me, is definitely not a sweet/candy chocolate. Nice tea, easy to drink.

A shame it’s out of stock now, as adding 50-100g of this to any white2tea order would be a no-brainer at the price.

This sample is from last year’s Pubertea group buy – apparently there was also some in this year’s, so I will have a bit more of it to drink later! This tea looks pretty nice. Dark and obviously aged. The dry leaf had a slightly sweet, leathery and woody aroma. After a rinse, I first picked up a bit of camphor, followed by a sweet, ever so slightly musty woody aroma which reminded me of a clean antique store. There was also a slight fruity note to the aroma, like a dark currant or berry note. Not super sweet.

The flavor starts off sweet and woody, with a thick texture. In the first steep or two, I did get a bit of sharpness to the flavor which was not entirely good, but that was out of the tea quickly enough. It never really shows up distinctly in the flavor, but I pick up a bit of a coffee aroma from the liquor of the tea on occasion.

As the tea moved past the slightly sour (though still pleasant) first couple steeps, it really came into its own. Earthy, thick, woody, and sweet. There was a lightly camphorous, cooling mouthfeel after I swallowed. The woodiness came out more distinctly as I continued to steep it out, presenting a really nicely clean woody flavor for the bulk of the session.

Around steep nine or so, I noticed some fruity flavor popping up – the dark fruity (currant?) note I smelled in the aroma off the leaves at the beginning of the session.

I did notice a bit of a calming qi while drinking this tea, mostly in the upper chest/shoulders. It’s not a qi powerhouse. Flavor and texture are very nice. I’m glad I have some of this tea! The tea can be had for $0.52/g, so in terms of the more typical 200g size from artisan tea producers, that comes out to $104. Based on these two sessions, I would probably not buy this tea at the price it commands.

I drank this tea while having a wonderful and long overdue online hangout with some teafriends. For the most part, it is as advertised on W2T’s website.

The first steep threw me off for just a bit, as it was sort of light and floral, with a bit of hay in the flavor as well. I have to chalk that up to the tea not being fully opened up. On the next steep, I may have oversteeped it just a touch because of the lightness on the first steep. That burly character started to show up a little bit. This tea was thick and a bit sticky feeling in the mouth. The flavor remained slightly floral, but not a light and happy floral. There was indeed a slight bit of smokiness to the tea, but far from enough to make it unpleasant.

I liked this tea quite a bit. It was not particularly complex, but it was tasty. Thick and intense, especially if brewed with a heavy hand. In its youth, it could definitely be made unpleasantly astringent by oversteeping. In my session, there was a bit of astringency which sort of reared its head and generally built up a little bit as the session progressed, but I didn’t find it offensive at any point.

When I make my next W2T order to pick up some 2017 samples, I could certainly see myself tossing a cake of this tea in my cart. It would make a nice daily drinker. If it was in the exact same price bracket as Little Walk and Milk, Cream & Alcohol, that would be a foregone conclusion. At the slightly higher price it commands, this will remain a gametime decision.

I got a sample of this tea from a teafriend I swapped with earlier this year. It was a really interesting and different hong than I’m used to. The flavor was very floral, especially in the first few steeps, with a bit of a malty finish. I was not at all ready for that floral flavor when drinking a hongcha, though it does make sense that the Dancong varietal would lend a floral flavor to the tea. It got a little bit yammy in the mid session as well. Pretty sweet. No astringency or unpleasantness.

Not sure it was really my style, but I’m glad to have tried it for sure!

Yesterday I drank another tea I received in a swap with a teafriend: Lugu Farmers’ Association “Silver Medal Dong Ding.” Not sure where it comes from, though considering my Steepster search turned up a similarly named “Third Place Dong Ding” from Eco-Cha, maybe it was from there. The aroma from the dry leaf was light, but I picked up a little bit of roast, and of the distinctly Dong Ding nuttiness. After a rinse, that nutty aroma was more prominent, as was the sweet roastiness.

The flavor of the tea started out thick, sweet, creamy, and smooth. There was a small indication of a fruity finish, but that wasn’t very strong in the first couple steeps. The texture was thick, and I felt the tea in the back of my throat after I swallowed it. As I continued to steep this out, the fruitiness got more prominent. It was hard to identify, but reminded me most of peaches. The front was sweet and nutty, with that fruity flavor exploding softly in my mouth just after I swallowed. Very interesting way for the tea to develop on the palate. The tea had respectable longevity for a rolled oolong – I think I got about a dozen good steeps out of it.

I also tried it with 200F water, which brought out some more delicate floral flavors, but also failed to elicit the nice fruity finish I enjoyed a good deal in my first session. I’d say it was definitely better with boiled water according to my tastes.